This disclosure relates generally to an application linking framework, and more specifically to cross-platform mobile application-to-application linking, including allowing deep linking into particular states in applications.
While linking between web-based content is commonplace, the ability to link between native mobile applications has not been readily available for application developers. Current solutions have not provided an easy way for application-to-application linking that works across various different mobile platforms and that allows mobile “deep linking” from one application to a specific page or state within another application rather than just opening up the content in a mobile web browser. Yet, for online systems the ability to link its mobile application content to other mobile applications and to allow other mobile applications to link to it would provide a lot more flexibility to its users.
As an example of such an online system for which mobile application linking would be valuable, social networking systems allow users to connect to and communicate with other users, including through their mobile devices. Mobile social networking applications can provide content (e.g., news stories, advertisements, etc.) to users within a newsfeed or other sources in the application, and this content may have a link to content for which there is another mobile application. Currently, though, the content for the other mobile application is inconveniently provided on a mobile web browser rather than within the other mobile application itself, and the presentation of the content may not be as intended by the other mobile application. Similarly, applications developers cannot simply link their mobile applications directly to content within the mobile social networking application.